As Unity Party Rocks In Conflict
The just-ended Senatorial by-election in Lofa County was won by the governing Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC) backed and supported candidate, Cllr. Joseph Jallah against the main opposition, the former ruling Unity Party, and its standard-bearer former Vice President Joseph N. Boakai is being struck down with politico uproars that have placed the former Vice President’s hope of holding on to the standard-bearer title on sinking sand.
A well-placed source within the former ruling Unity Party has informed this news outlet that since the collection of results from the by-election on June 28, 2022, from the various polling centers across Lofa County, the headquarters of the Unity Party has been engaged in a series of meetings by officials discussing the fate of former Vice President Joseph N. Boakai as a standard-bearer on the party’s ticket.
The source indicated that Unity Party (UP) officials and senior partisans are holding accountable former Vice President Joseph N. Boakai, standard-bearer of the party responsible for the poor campaigning strategy and activities which has resulted in the defeat of the party in the just-ended by-elections in Lofa County.
The source maintained that on Thursday, June 30, 2022, several officials of the party expressed disappointment and the lack of confidence in the leadership of the former Vice President flagship on the party’s ticket in the upcoming 2023 general elections in the country.
The source stated that the UP Political Boakai who has been accused by some party officials of not exercising authority as a political leader and standard-bearer of the party in the Lofa County by-election displayed a lack of leadership and cannot be trusted to lead the party into a major election like the upcoming 2023 presidential and general elections which will process a mountainous task for the Unity Party.
The failure of the former Vice President to demonstrate the courage to raise funds, and mobilize party executives to move on Lofa County in time for the campaign for the party’s candidate whom the former Vice President personally imposed on the party, old-age, including the standard-bearer, failure to settle its current rental obligation at the newly acquired headquarters of the party are many major reasons why some officials of the party are demanding the removal of Amb. Boakai.
The Unity Party headquarters which is located up Broad Street opposite the Catholic Church in central Monrovia in the last days has been in a very tense atmosphere due to hovering issues that have centered on rental payments and the future of participation in the elections.
Prior to the June 28 by-election in Lofa County, the source hinted that in the last two months, UP officials have been engaging the party’s standard-bearer, on how the party could gather monies on the way forward to pay for the headquarters yearly rental fee which said is in the tone of a little over USD$10,000.
The source noted that why party officials were discussing the payment of its yearly rental for the headquarters in the face of the by-elections, former Vice President Boakai as a standard-bearer of the party stayed off the party’s premises claiming health conditions and financial challenges, concluding that the action of the former Vice President and standard-bearer of the party shows that he lacks every credentials and vision to contest the upcoming elections.
Reported by: Tayee Maya
